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Book 






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SERMON, 



DraJYEKKD IN THE WARKEN STREET CHURCH, 



SUKDAY, NOVKMBER 14, 1862. 



BY OTIS A. SKINNER 



'dbh Drntlj nf iniiirl illflistn: 



SERMON, 



DELIVERED IN THE WARREN STREET CHURCH, 



SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1852. 



BY OTIS A> SKINNER 

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BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED BY A. TOMPKINS, 

38, CORNUILL. 

1853. 



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SERMON. 



" For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusa- 
lem, and from Judah, the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and 
the whole stay of water, the mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, 
and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, the captain of fifty, and 
the honorable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and 
the eloquent orator. " — Isaiah iii : 1,2,3. 



These fearfully prophetic words found their fulfill- 
ment when the king of Bahylon carried away all 
Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men 
of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the crafts- 
men and smiths, so that none remained save the poorest 
sort of people of the land. After their great men 
were all removed, children became their princes, and 
babes ruled over them. 

From this prediction we learn, that in the estimation 
of the prophet, a true great man was one of the chief 
blessings of a nation; and that his removal was a seri- 
ous national calamity. Equally just was his idea of 
greatness. According to his view, it was not confined 
to one station or engaged in one service. He saw that a 
man could be great in one department of life as well as in 



another. Some speak as though greatness was confined 
to official stations, or to the learned professions. Such, 
however, is by no means the fact. Isaiah, in his 
enumeration of great men, mentions the man of war, 
the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the 
honorable man, the ancient, the counsellor, the crafts- 
man, and the eloquent orator. We read, in substance, 
the same in other portions of the sacred volume. It 
speaks of mighty men of valor, mighty men of wealth, 
mighty men of war, and mighty men of power. Thus 
great men are not found exclusively in any one depart- 
ment of life. They belong to all departments, and in 
all greatness has its mission. 

A great merchant is one of the principal benefactors 
of a nation. He opens trade with distant portions of 
the earth ; he exchanges the commodities of his country 
with those of other countries ; he makes busmess for 
various classes around him ; he infuses energy and life 
into the masses ; and he enlarges the sphere of culture 
and enjoyment. Hence the merchant princes of Sidon 
are mentioned among its principal benefactors. And 
are not such merchants among our principal benefac- 
tors I Who contribute more to the prosperity of busi- 
ness, to the growth of wealth, to the work of refinement, 
to the success of learning, religion, and charity] Who 
do more to give life, and energy, and character to our 
nation % A great mechanic is also a blessing of equal 
importance. He gives labor to vast numbers ; he turns 



the raw material of a country into rich and useful arti- 
cles, and he makes wealth abound where poverty had 
its dismal home. It is the same with the manufacturer 
and the farmer. These three, the mechanic, tlie manu- 
facturer, and the farmer, have control of all the sources 
of wealth ; and if their labors were to be discontinued, 
our prosperity would come to an end. 

In consequence of this, some think that no greatness 
is of any service, unless it has a direct and immediate 
connection with the increase of wealth. But such have 
a partial view of greatness, and look upon a great 
lawyer, physician, statesman, mmister, orator, and judge 
as rendering no valuable service to the world. We 
find an opposite class occupying an extreme equally 
wide from the truth. They under estimate the great 
merchant, mechanic, manufacturer, and farmer. While 
they praise in terms of the most extravant eulogy the 
superior orator, physician, lawyer, and preacher, they 
have no commendation for those who are great as busi- 
ness men. It was not thus with the prophet. He 
classed together the counsellor, the cunning artificer, 
and the eloquent orator. We, I trust, with the prophet, 
are ready to do ample justice to greatness wherever 
found. Any distmguished talent is a blessmg to be 
desired. The great orator possesses an enviable power. 
Who can listen to him, and see him charm the multi- 
tude, and sway them as he wills, and not envy him his 
gift? The great statesman has talents of rare value. 



He comprehends the nature and operation of laws, sees 
as with an intuitive eye the wants of his country, and 
the measures best calculated to give it prosperity and 
power. The great philosopher, the great poet, the 
great artist, all occupy a proud place, and are among 
the chief benefactors of mankind. 

I would not pretend to say which order of greatness 
is the highest, or to which the world, all thmgs con- 
sidered, is the most indebted. These would both be 
difficult subjects to settle. But while they would be 
difficult to settle, it is very clear, I thmk, that greatness 
of mind is vastly superior to greatness of wealth and 
station. There is, I am aware, an old adage, which 
says, money is power. And the adage is true. Money 
is power. We enthrone the rich; we bow to their 
opinions; we copy their fashions; we imitate their 
manners ; we are flattered by theii' attentions, and when 
admitted to their ranks, we feel as though some great 
honor had been conferred upon us. Vast numbers 
follow the rich, and stand ready to do their bidding, 
for they wish the friendship of those occup}dng a high 
rank, and ha^dng the means to accomplish any purpose 
desired. The rich can link their names with powerful 
institutions, with great manufactories, and with exten- 
sive public improvements, and by their patronage exer- 
cise a wide sway. Still, there is not necessarily a 
connection between mind and wealth. We often see 
men of vast possessions, whose chief ability is to get 



money and keep it. Money is frequently in the hands 
of those who have no appreciation of learning, no taste 
for the fine arts, no interest in the public good. They 
never spend for music, or lectures, or books, or travel ; 
and when they see one who thinks of something besides 
stocks and dividends, they call him a spendthrift, and 
tell how cheap they live, and how much it costs him to 
live. I would not say that any man shoidd expend 
beyond his means, for we have no right to another's 
property. Still, I can see how easy it is for a man of 
large heart, and large views, and a cultivated taste, and 
generous impulses, standmg m a high position, and 
moving in the cii*cles of wealth, to go beyond his means. 
He cannot stop to divide pennies, or even reckon small 
sums; — he does not understand fractions, — he sees 
thmgs on a large scale, — he has great plans, not for 
money makmg, but for literatui-e, for religion, for liberty, 
for his country. No matter how much he earns, he 
cannot save, — his is a different vocation. 

In these remarks I have no reference to the proud 
spendthrift, or the reckless prodigal, — to men who live 
for the gratification of their pride, or their appetite. I 
am speakmg of the great man who has consecrated him- 
self to his country, to literature, or religion, whose sole 
aim is to use his gigantic powers for the accomplish- 
ment of the object which, in his estimation, surpasses 
all others. He lives for one purpose, and to the execu- 
tion of that purpose he directs all his energies. It is 



8 



not unusual for a man of this character, to rise by his 
superior talents above men of vast wealth, and rule 
over them as a king rules his subjects. And what is 
there more gratifying than to see talent thus rise, and 
bid the old aristocrat, who had long prided himself on 
his name, and station, and property, sit in submission 
at its feet ? Such a triumph of mind gives man a con- 
sciousness of his dignity, and shows him that, notwith- 
standmg the glitter, and pomp, and grandeur of wealth, 
he is superior to all its might. I never see mind thus 
towering above the distinctions and sway of money, and 
wielding its sceptre like a god, without having a new 
reverence inspired for man. 

We have an admirable illustration of the pomt before 
us, in the case of that distinguished statesman, whose 
death has filled our country with sorrow, and in honor 
of whom our stores, and public buildings, and private 
dwellings are covered with the emblems of mourn- 
ing. He was a poor boy, bom among the hills 
of New Hampshire, as it were on the borders of 
civilization. He chiefly worked his way through an 
academy, and then through college, and then through 
the requisite studies for his profession. After a few 
years practice in the law, he located himself in the 
prmcipal town of his native State, where he shortly 
rose to an eminence equal to its greatest men, and they 
ranked with the first in the country. From that place 
he removed to this citv. He was not lone: here before 



his presence was felt by all the great men of the town. 
He used no arts to push himself forward. He had a 
marked eye, a marked brow, a marked frame, as well as 
a marked mind, and men sought him out ; and as he 
conversed witli them, and addressed them in the court 
house, and other places of public gatherings, they were 
awe-struck by his giant intellect, by the vastness of his 
knowledge, the profoundness of his judgment, the 
strength and elegance of his language, and the grandeur 
of his oratory ! And only a few years elapsed before all 
assigned him the first place in the ranks of greatness ; 
and wherever he was to speak, whether at the bar, in 
Faneuil Hall, at the Pilgrim's Landing, or at Bunker's 
Hill, crowds thronged to hear him. 

There he stood, far above the richest merchant and 
banker, and the many princely men of which our city 
could boast. To that proud place he rose by the might 
of mind ; and men of vast wealth were glad to have him 
share their fortune, if he would but serve his country in 
the halls of legislation. Mind! It is greater than 
money. It speaks, and on its word depends the value 
of vast manufactories ! It commands, and machinery 
spread all over the country, which had grown rusty 
from disuse, moves, and yields a large compensation ! 
Mind ! It governs wealth ! It can create, and it can 
destroy ! The rich merchant, and banker, and manu- 
facturer kneel before it, imploring its aid, as if it were a 
god, presiding over human affairs. It has been the 



10 



privilege of our country to have its portion of such 
men, — men who have stood out in our history as the 
sun stands out in the heavens, and, like the sun, 
eclipsed by their brightness lights of great magnitude 
and brilliancy. But among them all, none have stood 
higher than the one, who has just gone from among us; 
and it is questionable, whether in strength and grandeur 
of mind, the world has ever had his superior. 

Some one-idea men, who judge all by the estimate in 
which their idea is held, insist, that he was deficient in 
the essential elements of greatness, inasmuch as he 
never led off on any one point far in advance of his 
times. I do not read with the glasses of such men. 
There are two ways of leading off. One is to select out 
a single point, and push that to its utmost extreme, and 
in a manner to hazard everythmg else. It is an easy 
matter to be great according to this idea of greatness. 
We have any quantity of such great men, for in the 
various reforms we find persons delving away at some 
truth not generally admitted. But among all these 
leaders, what is there new 1 That they advocate many 
truths, and many important truths, I shall not deny; 
but that they deserve, in consequence of their position, 
credit for great originality, I must deny. It is an easy 
matter to step beyond the masses, to get a glimpse of 
light that will lead far in advance of the popular senti- 
ment. There are many truths that have been known 
for centuries, which, if strenuously advocated, would 



11 



produce excitement and contention, because not in 
accordance with the general sentiment, and because 
their success would disturb existing political parties. 

I wish not to imply by these remarks, that he is not 
entitled to commendation, who links himself with an 
important unpopular truth; for that is one of the 
methods by which society is improved; and he who 
from principle toils and suffers for the truth, should be 
ranked among its sincere and devoted fiiends. There 
are no names that occupy a prouder place on the page 
of history, than of those, who, without counting the 
cost, have been true to their convictions, and to whom 
the rewards of fidelity have been more precious than 
station and power. But all who toil zealously for a 
new truth, toil not wisely; the labors of some are a 
curse rather than a blessing. They seem not to under- 
stand the import of what they advocate, or to have any 
conception of the measures best calculated for its incor- 
poration into government. They can agitate, but not 
construct ; they can unsettle, but not improve ; they 
can describe existing evils, but have no power for their 
removal. 

Others may see an unpopular truth with all the 
clearness of the most noisy reformer ; but judging differ- 
ently from him in regard to its relative importance, or 
the best methods of accomplishing the results desired, 
they take a course entirely different. Knowing that 
the progress of truth is gradual, and that time is 



12 



requisite to effect great changes, they use such means 
as in their judgment will be best for their country, — 
not for one of its interests, but for all of them. 

There is a radicalism Avhich would sacrifice the 
Union, the Constitution, and all the blessings of free- 
dom, rather than wait till truth can have time to work 
out the object it seeks. On the other hand, there is a 
conservatism that would put its cumbrous brake upon 
every wheel that would go forward. Between these ex- 
tremes lies a high and a broad way, where many of our 
best patriots, and wisest statesmen, and noblest philan- 
thropists, and truest Christians are traveling. They 
say, for mstance, in regard to slavery, "We will give it 
no more territory, — we will not permit its power to 
increase ; and we will do what we can to make its true 
character known all over our land ; but we will not be 
false to compacts while we avail ourselves of their bless- 
ing ; and we will not infringe upon rights which have 
been legally vested in others. 

Slavery I abhor, and regard as a monstrous curse ; 
but on its account, I would not dissolve the Union, or 
break down our government ; for by either course free- 
dom would lose mfinitely more than it would gain. 
There is one guaranty which we have that ought to 
make us satisfied, and that is, the right to speak and 
the right to vote. With this guaranty, why need we 
go for revolution 1 I would say. Speak on, till truth 
prepares the way for the peaceful triumph of fi-eedom. 



13 

We of the free states can do no more, for we have no 
direct control over slavery, and cannot have. Abolition, 
when it comes, must come from the slaveholder himself. 
For one, therefore, I regard the adherence of our 
lamented statesman to the Constitution and the Union, 
as one of the proofs of his transcendent greatness. He 
would not sweep away all that we have, in the vain 
hope of helping the cause of freedom and equal rights. 
He knew too much to jom with those who make the 
land ring unceasingly with denimciation ; for he saw 
that, as the unhappy, peevish tongue cannot correct the 
evils of home, so the cry of denunciation can never 
remove the national evils, which he, as much as any 
patriot, deplored. He looked upon our country as a 
whole ; he comprehended in his measures all its inter- 
ests, east, west, north, and south, and devoted the ener- 
gies of his giant mind to its elevation, advancement, and 
honor. His country was the sjiionyme of all that 
should command his talents and his time. Its wise and 
equal government ; its excellent institutions ; the wis- 
dom, and talents, and enterprise of its people, made it 
his pride and his joy. No man ever entertained more 
just views in regard to the measures essential to its 
permanent prosperity. He did not look for its welfare 
so much in the force of arms and in the power of law, 
as in intelligence and religion. Speaking of his coun- 
try, he says, " This lovely land, this glorious liberty, the 
dear purchase of our fathers, are ours ; ours to enjoy, 



14 

ours to preserve, ours to transmit. Generations past, and 
generations to come, hold us responsible for this sacred 
trust. Our fathers from behind admonish us with their 
anxious paternal voices ; posterity calls out to us from 
the bosom of the future; the world turns hither its 
solicitous eyes ; — all, all conjure us to act wisely and 
faithfully in the relation which we sustain. We can 
never, indeed, pay the debt which is upon us ; but by 
virtue, by morality, by religion, by the cultivation of 
every good principle and every good habit, we may hope 
to enjoy the blessing through our day, and leave it un- 
impaii-ed to our children." In his Plymouth oration, 
he says, " Our ancestors established their system of 
government on morality and religious sentiment. Moral 
habits, they believed, cannot be safely trusted on any 
other foundation than religious principle, nor any gov- 
ernment be secure which is not supported by moral 
habits. Living under the heavenly light of revelation, 
they hoped to find all the social dispositions, all the 
duties which men owe to each other, and to society, 
enforced and performed. Wliatever makes men good 
Christians makes them good citizens. Our fathers came 
here to enjoy their religion free and unmolested, and, 
at the end of two centuries, there is nothing upon which 
we can pronounce more confidently, nothing of which 
we can express a more deep and earnest conviction, 
than of the inestimable importance of that religion to 
man, both in regard to this life and that which is to 



15 



come." In his speech on the Girard bequest, his defence 
of religion is one of the most able ever made. He gave 
it the same high place in his speech at the com- 
pletion of Bunker Hill Monument. Always, whether 
before the Bar, in the Senate, or in a popular assem- 
bly, he was the defender and the eulogist of Christianity. 
It was the basis and the guardian of freedom. 

On the means essential to the greatness and pros- 
perity of his country, his views were equally just. 
Knowing that agriculture, trade, and the mechanic arts 
were the sources of a nation's wealth, he embraced 
every opportunity that offered to give them his sanction 
and support. Knowing that law was the protection of 
human right and fi.-eedom, he sought for the enactment 
of laws founded upon equity, and gave the whole weight 
of his influence to have laws wisely and faithfully admin- 
istered. He was no ultraist; he could not be from the 
framework of his mind. It was too large, it saw and 
embraced too much ; it comprehended too clearly the 
relative connection of all things in our government, to 
leave uncared for its great and varied interests, and give 
himself exclusively to one of them. He never got so 
mad on any subject as to denounce government, and 
everything which favored not his peculiar views. Those 
may do this who have not minds sufficient to grasp the 
whole interests of our country, — who are ncc able really 
fully to master one interest. He had a broader and 
greater work, — a more comprehensive mission. It was 



16 



his to aid in guarding the welfare of our entire country; 
in giving a right direction to the policy of our nation ; 
in defending the constitution; in adding strength to 
the basis of our freedom ; in explaining the rights of 
the States and the rights of the general government. 

Some idea may be formed of his broad views, and his 
interest in all that belongs to our nation, by a paragraph 
in his masterly speech on Bunker Hill. He says, " Let 
our conceptions be enlarged to the circle of our duties. 
Let us extend our ideas over the whole of the vast field 
in which we are called to act. Let our object be our 
country, our whole country, and nothmg but our coun- 
try. And by the blessing of God may that country 
become a vast and splendid monument, not of oppres- 
sion and terror, but of wisdom, of peace, and of liberty, 
upon which the world may gaze with admiration 
forever." 

In these noble and patriotic views, we see why he 
was so often charged with favoring Southern interests. 
He was the friend of the South the same as of the North ; 
the friend of the whole country. I know it is thought 
that he acted with an eye to the support of the South 
for the presidency. But when or where did he utter a 
syllable to sanction slavery ; when or where did he give 
his influence to extend its area ? Often, and in lan- 
guage of which no other man was master, did he de- 
nounce slavery. At Plymouth Rock, on Bunker Hill, 
in Faneuil Hall, and various other places, he declared 



17 



it as the great curse of our nation. Liberty was a word 
ever upon his lips, and never was it with him an unmean- 
ing sound. Even his defamers admit that, up to 1850, 
his course in regard to slavery was just and honorable. 
Of that course he was not afraid or unwillmg to 
speak, even when it was said he was giving his whole 
influence for slavery, in order to gain the presidency. 
In his celebrated Speech at Buffalo, he said, " I con- 
tend, and have always contended, that, after the adop- 
tion of the Constitution, any measure of the government 
calculated to bring more slave territory into the United 
States was beyond the power of the Constitution, and 
against its provisions. That is my opinion now, and it 
always has been my opinion." In the same Speech, he 
argues that the admission of Louisiana was unconstitu- 
tional. He took the same ground in regard to Florida; 
and he showed how he opposed the admission of Texas. 
On these questions he never had but one opinion ; he 
always believed that we had no power to admit slave 
States into the Union; and he never consented that 
there should be one foot of slave territory beyond what 
the old thirteen States had at the time of the forma- 
tion of the Union. Still more obnoxiously does he 
express himself in the same Speech, in regard to con- 
cessions. He says, " If the South wish any concession 
from me, they will not get it ; not a hair's breadth of 
it. If they come to my house for it, they will not find 
it, and the door will be shut. I concede nothing." 



18 



Now, when I read that Speech, I was confident that 
the South would never give him its support for the 
presidency, for I saw that it contained doctrines and 
avowals which they would not sanction. But while the 
South spurned him because he would not go for the 
extension of slavery, some among us spurned him be- 
cause he said, " I Avill maintain for them, as I will 
maintain for you, to the utmost of my power, and in the 
face of all danger, their rights under the Constitution, 
and your rights under the Constitution. And I shall 
never be found to falter in one or in the other." 

It is not the province of man to judge the motives of 
his brother; and yet Mr. Webster has been judged with 
as much assurance as if the human eye could read un- 
erringly the human heart ; and he has been denounced 
as acting the traitor to human freedom, because he sup- 
ported the compromise measures. His heart has been 
dissected, and we have been told that its mgredients 
were ambition, cruelty and selfishness ; and the part he 
acted has been stigmatized as his fall from heaven to 
hell. That he was wholly right in his compromise 
measures I do not believe ; but it is much easier to 
suppose that his error arose from a regard for the con- 
stitution, than from a traitorous spirit. For the fugitive 
slave law I have no favor; to me some of its features 
are unreasonable and unjust. Still, I do not think that 
the South will gain much by it ; for it is impossible to 
make it effective in restoring fugitives. Mr. Webster 



19 

approved of the law; he approved of it because, accord- 
ing to the Constitution, the South had the same right 
to its fugitives, that it had to any of its goods or chattels. 
That right Mr. Webster did not create; over it he had 
no power; but he felt that it was his work to see that 
it was regarded according to the terms of the compact. 
He regretted the existence of the right, but this regret 
did not lessen his constitutional obligation. Besides, 
the South was excited, angry, and open in its movements 
for breaking up the Union. Mr. Webster declared that 
the Union was in danger. That he was honest in that 
declaration I have no doubt; for other great men enter- 
tained the same views. Besides, we know the causes 
which created the danger. Texas was arrayed against 
the general government in regard to a boundary question; 
and thousands on thousands, m several of the South- 
ern States, were ready to join with Texas. But what 
of that? Mr. Webster, in his Buffalo Speech, answers, 
" There are two sorts of foresight. There is a military 
foresight, which sees what will be the result of an ap- 
peal to arms, and there is also a statesman-like foresight, 
which looks not to the results of battles and carnage, 
but to the results of political disturbances, the violence 
of faction carried into military operations, and the hor- 
rors attendant on civil war." That the forces of the 
general government would have triumphed in such a 
contest, Mr. Webster had no doubt. But while he had 
no fear on that account, he had fear of civil war; he 



20 



had fear of evils more dreadful, a thousandfold, than a 
contest between two nations. Why, then, need we 
suppose him to have acted the traitor 1 

But suppose these fears were unfounded; in one 
sense, all will agree that there was danger. There was 
danger that the spirit of the Union would become ex- 
tinct, that the North and the South would become as 
hostile nations, and that alienation would take the place 
of friendship. And should such become the case, the 
Union would exist only in name; and the first storm of 
angry excitement that should arise, would sever our 
bonds, and split us into a thousand fragments. Mr. "Web- 
ster, therefore, wished for amity, for reciprocity of spirit ; 
and as by the action of several of the States, barriers 
had been thrown in the way of the execution of that 
provision in the Constitution, which gave the South a 
right to its fugitives, he went for the enactment of a 
law for their return. The law he proposed gave the 
fugitive the right of trial by jury, and thus was far less 
objectionable than the present law. Why, then, charge 
him with treason, and selling himself for power'? If he 
erred in going for an arbitrary law, we should seek the 
cause for it in the considerations named, and in his 
ardent love for the Union, in his high appreciation of 
its worth, in his efforts to give it strength and endur- 
ance. We should also seek the cause in his reverence 
for the Constitution, and in his desu'e to see all its 
provisions equally respected. 



21 

I know not that he can be charged witli an undue 
love of power. Never, to my knowledge, did he show 
an unholy ambition. Power was his, and to a degree 
that no living man possessed,— power at the Bar, power 
m the Senate, power over the affairs of his country. 
Judges bowed to him with deference, and Presidents 
sought him as their first counsellor; and when our 
country had any great work to do, it felt at ease, if he 
would undertake it. 

But power, it is said, M'as not enough; he wanted 
station. I will not deny that such was the fact, thoudi 
I have yet to learn that he preferred station to prin- 
ciple. I will say that no station could have added to 
his honor, or glory, or greatness. He never yet filled a 
station which he did not honor more than it honored 
him; and he will go down to posterity with as much 
renown, and live as long in history, and occupy as high 
a place among the great men of the earth, as though he 
had filled the presidential chair. Some men derive 
greatness from station. The fortune that throws them 
into place, uivests them with a temporary importance. 
But, after all, men are remembered more for what they 
are, than for any station they have filled. Europe has 
had many crowned heads, which are unknown in history 
except as crowned heads. There is danger that, not 
our great men, but our available men, will most fre- 
quently fill the first office in our country. There is 
also, danger that even that office may be so lowered, 



22 



that our best men will not accept it. Mr. Webster 
filled with honor and fidelity every place he occupied. 
At the bar he had no superior; and in every case he 
defended, he was equal to his opponent, however great 
he might be. In the Senate it was the same. The 
greater the antagonist he met, the greater the effort he 
made. He was always equal to his work. Great deeds 
and great speeches mark his whole career as a public 
man. His orations and his important speeches form 
epochs from which dates are reckoned ! How true this 
is with reference to his defence of the Union, in reply 
to Hayne. It is equally true with reference to his 
orations at Plymouth, on Bunker Hill, and his Eulogy 
on Adams and Jefferson. For strength and grandeur 
of thought, for force and beauty of style, for complete- 
ness in symmetry and finish, for thoroughness in the 
discussion of his themes, they have never been surpassed. 
It is no uncommon thing to find men distinguished 
in one particular. Some are remarkable for acuteness 
of mind, some for strength, some for grasp, and some 
for logical power. One man writes with great beauty, 
another with great elegance, another with great purity, 
and another with great strength. One man captivates 
with his oratory, another with his rhetoric, and another 
with his happy presentation of truth. But, tell me, 
what excellence is there which our departed statesman 
did not possess 1 For years his style has been a model 
in all our colleges; and in ages to come his speeches 



23 



will be studied as are the orations of Cicero and 
Demosthenes ! How wonderful that a man should be 
thus great in all things ! He was the model writer, the 
model speaker, the model lawyer, the model legislator, 
the model statesman, and the model minister of state. 
To be in any one thing great as Webster, has for years 
been the summit of American ambition. 

Mr. Webster had all the qualities of mind that be- 
long to true greatness. He had understanding, reason, 
and imagination. Who, among all the mighty men of 
our country, was ever so full and complete in his pre- 
sentation of a subject as he was ] Who could strengthen 
or enlarge upon points which he had discussed] Hayne 
was a great man, the star of the South; but Webster's 
reply to him was so transcendent in power, so over- 
whelming in argument and eloquence, that the nullifier 
and nullification both became extinct. If no other 
speeches in Congress or at the Bar were equal to this, 
it was because the occasion did not demand it. In his 
Eulogy on Adams and Jefferson he had no equal, and 
what orations delivered in this country, or m the most 
classic countries of the old world, will surpass his best 
orations 1 They exhibit all the qualities of a great in- 
tellect. They are marked alike by power and imagery. 
His lofty imagination makes them as gorgeous and 
attractive as his understanding does strong and con- 
clusive. Majestic imagery was as natural to him as 
thought. Since the days of Milton, no man has ap- 



24 



peared with an imagination so great and fertile. So 
rich was it, and so varied were its creations, that his 
speeches are among the most popular productions of 
our literature, even with the young and those who have 
a passion for the fanciful. His imagination transformed 
the monument on Bunker Hill into the great orator 
of freedom and patriotism for our nation through all 
ages ! Hear him. " The powerful speaker stands mo- 
tionless before us. It is a plain shaft. It bears no in- 
scription fronting to the rising sun, from which the 
future antiquarian shall wipe the dust. Nor does the 
rising sun cause tones of music to issue from its sum- 
mit. But at the rising of the sun and at the setting of 
the sun, in the blaze of noonday, and beneath the mild 
effulgence of lunar light, — it looks, it speaks, it acts to 
the full comprehension of every American mind, and 
the awakenmg of glowing enthusiasm in every Ameri- 
can heart. * * * To-day it speaks to us. Its future 
auditories will be the successive generations of men, as 
they rise up before it, and gather around it. Its speech 
will be of patriotism and courage ; of civil and religious 
liberty; of free government; of the moral improvement 
and elevation of mankind; and of the immortal memory 
of those who, with heroic devotion, have sacrificed their 
lives for their country." Equally glowing was Mr. 
Webster's imagination, m his speech at the lajdng of 
the corner-stone of the monument. " Let it rise till it 
meet the sun in his coming ; let the earliest light of the 



25 



morning gild it, and parting day linger and play upon 
its summit." What, in grandeur and sublimity, could 
surpass portions of his speech in defence of the Union ? 
If they are equalled, it is in that magnificent passage in 
his Eulogy on Adams and Jefferson, where he intro- 
duces those immortal patriots, and gives them an 
eloquence which even they never equalled ! So com- 
pletely did he have control of his audience, that they 
turned to see the door open, and the old patriots enter I 
What power of imagination ! 

The other qualities of Mr. Webster's mind were 
equal to those mentioned. He had great firmness and 
independence, an iron will, a retentive memory, and a 
quick perception. In these characteristics, we see why 
he was so true to the convictions of his mind, even 
when they required him to difier from those to whom 
he was under special obligations. So controlling was 
his sense of duty, that nothing could move him to relin- 
quish his independence. Hence, when Secretary of State 
under Mr. Tyler, he retained his place in opposition to 
the wishes of his party, for he believed that he could 
settle a long disputed national question. His country 
demanded his labors, and he would not leave his post. 
How sublimely does the patriot here rise above the 
partizan. In his compromise measures, he knew that 
he should give great offence to Massachusetts ; that he 
would be abused and disowned by vast numbers ; but 
he took the step because he thought the Union and the 



26 



Constitution demanded it. Often did he depart from 
liis party, thus showing that he was more ambitious to 
serve his country, than his party. We may say, then, 
not only that he was great, but that he was a great 
patriot ; not only that he was wise, but a wise patriot. 
The measures which Mr. "Webster originated, and 
the measures which he carried, are full proof of his 
greatness. I am aware that he had no ambition to be 
known as the author of movements, and that many 
which had their origin with him, and in regard to 
which his coimsel was followed, were introduced by 
others. I am also aware, that where all the leading 
principles of government are established, and the gen- 
eral policy of a nation is settled, but little opportunity 
is afforded for the introduction of any great principle 
that is new. Besides, he believed that our government 
had all the elements essential to the highest greatness 
and happiness, and that we had only to adhere faithfully 
to its principles, in order to secure our greatest good. 
But when in the progi'ess of events, experience or 
change demanded some new measure, no eye was 
quicker than his to see what was required. At the close 
of the war of 1812, the country was filled with irre- 
deemable bank paper, for the banks had no specie found- 
ation. He procured, therefore, the adoption of what 
has been termed the specie resolution, by which the 
currency of the country was restored to a sound basis. 
To him are we indebted for a complete revision of the 



27 



law for the punishment of crime against the United 
States; in other words, for the code of the criminal 
jurisprudence of the United States, as distinct from the 
several States. Before the establishment of this, a 
great many crimes went unpunished, because no exist- 
ing power had jurisdiction over them. He originated 
the leading measures against nullification, and proved 
himself superior to all the master-spirits which arrayed 
themselves against the general government. He saved us 
from a war with England, by disputing the right of armed 
cruisers to search vessels, though conceded by France, 
Russia, Austria, and Prussia. Mr. Webster succeeded 
in getting the idea repudiated, and thus gave a death- 
blow to the English doctrine of impressment, search 
and visit. He, too, settled the northeastern boundary, 
and after it had been in dispute for almost sixty years. 
It was one of the most vexed of all questions that had 
troubled our country, and some of our most efficient 
presidents had done their best to have it settled. Mr. 
Webster did the work in a short time, and at a small 
cost, and to the satisfaction of all. By this he probably 
saved us from a war with England, and proved himself 
to be the first diplomatist of the country. No act of his 
whole life gained him so much honor and renown, or will 
do more to give him place in the annals of greatness. 
These are a specimen of the plans originated and 
executed by Mr. Webster ; and they show that his was 
a leading mind, and that none saw farther and clearer 



28 



than he saw. He had great sagacity, and judged 
with wisdom. He opposed the restrictive policy 
which preceded the war of 1812, by Avhich an em- 
bargo was put upon our vessels, in order to with- 
draw them from the grasp of foreign cruisers ; and he 
maintained that, as our country was commercial as well 
as agricultural, our commerce must be defended. He 
was of the opinion that war should be conducted more 
with reference to destroying England's fancied suprem- 
acy upon the sea, than to gaining foreign territory by 
conquest. He was also opposed to the provision in the 
bill for rechartering the United States Bank, by which 
it was relieved of the necessity of redeeming its notes in 
specie. His history is full of facts, showing with equal 
clearness his great sagacity. With them stand another 
class of facts, showing his nobleness of heart. He 
introduced a bill designed to aid Greece, when dis- 
tressed and distracted by the tyrants who were wasting 
its energies, and he defended it with an eloquence 
worthy of that classic land. He was foremost in op- 
posing the slave trade, and a leader among those who 
were ready to send bread to starving Ireland. He did 
much to lessen the severity of penalties, which punished 
unjustly offenders against the laws of the general gov- 
ernment. He spoke out for Hungary in language that 
shall yet shake the throne of its oppressor. If any still 
ask what he has done, let me refer them to constitu- 
tional law, and they will see how much he did for its 



29 



elucidation. Who has accomplished so much as Mr. 
Webster, in explaining the rights and duties of the 
State governments, and the rights and duties of the 
general government'? Most of his forensic life was 
devoted to their investigation. On questions of inter- 
national law, the country owes more to him than to all 
other men. 

If any thing be required to confirm these views, let 
me refer to his unchanging course through a period of 
thirty years. I know it is said, that he was first for 
free trade and then for the tariff, first against the bank 
and then for it. Such, however, is not the fact. His 
views on the tariff never changed, though after, by a 
high rate of duty, capitalists had been invited to invest 
largely in manufactories, he was in favor of sustaining 
them. Against the bank he never contended, but 
against the bank with powers which he thought dan- 
gerous, he did contend. This imchanging career is 
as creditable to his integrity, as his judgment and 
sagacity. He sought the good of his country, and not 
promotion. He did not unfurl his sails for every wind 
that would bear him into power. He had no hobbies; 
he used no arts or expedients; he never engaged in 
bargaining and wire pulling; what he accomplished 
was by truth, argument, eloquence, and earnestness, — 
by a direct and straightforward course. He was no 
adventurer, no experimenter, and was never dazzled by 
the new lights of the political world. His eye was as 



30 



calm and steady as it was keen and penetrating. He 
believed in the march of liberty, and he was ambitious 
to make our nation so wise, so great, so free, that it 
should be a light to lead others on to freedom and 
independence! He was the friend of progress; but 
progress with him did not consist merely in agita- 
tion and change ; it consisted rather in perfecting 
constitutional and international law; in lifting up all 
parts of the country to their privileges and duties ; in 
strengthening the bond of union between the States ; 
in promoting labor, learning, and religion. He had 
reliance on right, and he believed that it would ulti- 
mately triumph ; but he saw no necessity for its employ- 
ing any agencies save those which are provided by our 
w^ise and efficient government. Though he would not 
discard law, or trample upon a single provision of the 
Constitution, he w^as not unwilling to serve as torch- 
bearer to those who felt the pressure of evils inherited 
from ancient despotisms. He was the author of more 
new truths than any man of the present age. He never 
traveled with his face to the past ; his eye and his step 
were forward. He may not have been duly indulgent 
to the overheated agitator ; but it was not for the want 
of sympathy for man, but because he saw that the 
measure proposed could not subserve any useful pur- 
pose. If he was sometimes severe, it was not until 
goaded by invective and abuse. His position, and 
talents, and power made him an object of special dislike 



31 



to demagogues and dreamers. They looked upon him 
not only as the Alps to be crossed, but as the Rome to 
be captured, before thek purposes could be accom- 
plished. It has been thought that, if he had been less 
the companion of the rich and aristocratic, he would 
have been more a man of the people. That would be a 
fair inference with regard to most men, but Daniel 
Webster was too great to be moulded by show and 
wealth ; he was born a king, and his reign was supreme. 
A great man has a great heart. Mere intellect 
never raised one to the highest rank of greatness. 
All those who have swayed the world, and left the im- 
press of their mind the deepest upon their age, have been 
men of heart. Such a man was Mr. Webster, though 
by many he was thought cold, and some said his 
heart, like his intellect, was made of steel. I see not 
how any could have judged thus, who were in the least 
familiar with his wiitings. You see at once from them 
his strong feelings, his genial sympathies, his warm 
affections. No man had more heart than Webster; 
and no man understood its nature better than he 
did. He was acquainted with all its fibres, and knew 
how to move all its powers. Here was one of the 
secrets of his influence, one of the sources of his great- 
ness. If any still think that he was wanting in heart, 
let me refer them to those touching words, addressed to 
an intimate fiiend, in his last sickness. Among all his 
great sayings, his splendid figures, his majestic sentences, 



32 



none have ever moved more. "Harvey, I am not so 
sick but that I know you. I am well enough to know 
you. I am well enough to love you, and well enough 
to call down the richest of heaven's blessings upon you 
and yours. Harvey, don't leave me till I am dead, — 
don't leave Marshfield till I am a dead man !" Here is 
heart, — a heart full of tenderness and affection, — a 
heart clinging like a tendril to its stock, to the 
friend who had proved faithful! O ye, who despise 
it, who trifle with its affections, and who vainly 
think that glory and renoAvn will furnish all the 
support and comfort you need, look at this great 
man, who had the ear of the whole civilized world 
when he spoke, and see him leaning on the bosom 
of affection, and feeling stronger and happier for 
the presence of a friend. His whole life was in 
keeping with this beautiful instance. You see his 
heart bursting forth in the glowing language of ten- 
derness, even in his business letters. Writing to 
John Taylor, he says, " Take care to keep my mother's 
garden in good order, even if it cost you the labors of a 
man to take care of it. I have sent you many garden 
seeds ; distribute them among your neighbors ; send 
them to the stores in the village, that every body may 
have them without cost." Again, he says, " Give my 
kindest remembrance to your wife and children, and 
when you look from your eastern windows upon the 
graves of my family, remember that he who is the 



33 



author of this letter, will soon follow them to another 
world." In writing to an intimate friend, he speaks 
thus of his father: " The grave has closed on him, as it 
has on all my brothers and sisters. We shall soon be 
all together. But this is melancholly, and I leave it. 
Dear, dear kindred blood, how I love you {ill!" In 
the same letter, he describes an inter\iew with his 
father in the field, when the good man bade him learn^ 
learn, if he would have power and success. The son 
wept, and when ripened age was upon him, and he had 
risen to a greatness never surpassed, the recollection 
of the scene made him weep again. We see the same 
evidence of heart in the kind manner in which he 
treated his opponents. Read his speeches, delivered in 
the most stormy times of his country, and they have no 
bitterness, no malignity, no unkindness. In spirit, 
they are as noble as in thought ; in character as hon- 
orable to his heart as to his head. 

But we may not only learn jG.*om him the value of 
affection, we may also learn the value of religion. 
There was a majestic calmness in his last hours, that 
clothes his name with a new grandeur and power ! 
What strong faith ! what quiet submission ! what serene 
peace! Mighty as he was, he found strength m the 
gospel. Vast as was his knowledge, he found none 
like the knowledge of God. Proud as was his position, 
he was not ashamed to humble himself before the 
Saviour! O ye, who say that religion will do for the 
weak and the superstitious, look, and you will see the 



34 



comfort and strength it can give to the greatest man of 
our country; look, and you will see that no power of 
intellect, no human learning, no splendor of fame, can 
meet the wants of the soul in the hour of death, — then, 
nothing, nothing but religion, with its resplendent 
faith and glowing hope, can impart peace! Let those 
who regard it as a mark of greatness to doubt, remem- 
ber the faith of "Webster ! Great as he was, he asked 
to have engraved upon his tombstone, this simple sen- 
tence, He was a believer in Jesus. 

That nature was liberal to this great man, it would 
be idle to deny. That but few are intellectually en- 
dowed like him, all will admit. It would seem as if 
Providence gave him to the world, that we might see 
the greatness of which mind is capable ; and that by its 
vast achievements and its mighty sway, we might be led 
away from the fascinations of wealth to that higher 
realm, where mind presides. Still, it should be remem- 
bered that nature did not do all for him. Prom early 
life to the last days of his eventful existence, he was an 
untiring student. So eager was he for an education, 
that when his father told him that he should go to col- 
lege, he laid his head upon the good man's shoulder, 
and wept aloud. How he found time for study is a 
marvel. His labors at the bar were immense, and who 
in toil surpassed him in Congress ? What question, 
connected* with any of our interests as a nation, was 
there, which he did not understand "? And yet, he was 
jfe,miliar with the classics, the poets, with liistory, and 



35 



Avas one of the most accomplished masters of the English 
language! What an example to the young! How 
should it stimulate all who would rise to eminence, and 
render great service to their country or to religion. 

Such was the greatness of Mr. Webster. But in the 
simple fact that he was great, there is no reason for the 
wails of wo ascending from all parts of our land. 
Often when great men die nations rejoice. The mere 
agitator and demagogue who do nothing for their 
country, but divide it and destroy its peace, die and are 
forgotten, and the good hope that a season of rest will 
come. You may make false issues, you may seek to 
carry arbitrary measures, you may gain notoriety by 
management, but the heart has an instinctive eye, Avhich 
will not permit us to be deceived; and for such men we 
have no honor. Mr. Webster was a true man. If 
there was any doubt of that previous to his death, the 
deep grief with which it filled our country, removed all 
reason for doubt. Greatness and usefulness are terms 
that always must be associated when speaking of him. 
It would be pleasant to trace his life, and see how faith- 
fully he sought to serve his country. In this respect, 
he may be held up as a most splendid example, and 
classed with Adams, and Jefferson, and Washington. 
America has never had a statesman who seemed more 
anxious to promulgate truth, — truth of all kinds, 
moral and religious, scientific and historical, — truth in 
relation to freedom and government, the Constitution 
and the Union. This is a point so creditable to 



36 



Mr. Webster, that I must dwell upon it a moment. 
He seemed never to forget his cardinal doctrine, so 
beautifully and powerfully set forth at Plymouthj — that 
religion is the basis of virtue; and virtue the basis of 
freedom. In the strongest terms of condemnation he 
denounced those, who, though they preached freedom, 
equality, and fraternity, counselled men to lawlessness 
and violence, and encouraged them to carry their points 
by stratagem and deception. His appeal was not to 
the passions, but to the reason, judgment, and con- 
science. In the whole range of sacred literature, we 
cannot find more splendid and truthful pictures of 
virtue and vice than in his speeches. The most elo- 
quent and faithful divines may learn lessons of him. 
Mr. Webster delivered a vast number of reception 
speeches, and they also, are rich in moral and religious 
instruction. Indeed, on all occasions, he urged upon 
his countrymen those lessons of virtue and religion, 
which are alike indispensable to the happmess of indi- 
viduals, and the success of freedom. Though a man of 
extraordinary humor, he never sought in his speeches 
simply to amuse, or to please the fancy; his aim was 
always higher; he labored to instruct, to convince, to 
lead the people onward. Hardly ever did he speak 
without giving his theme an important bearing upon the 
country. If he spoke in the South or the North, the 
East or the West ; if he spoke on agriculture or the 
mechanic arts ; on literature or religion ; on politics or 
public men, such was his invariable course. His coun- 



37 



try was the great absorbing theme of his soul ; and for 
his country he lived ! 

But he is gone! All that was mortal of him is no 
more ! With reference to him, we may say in imita- 
tion of his own eloquent language, used in speaking of 
Adams and Jefferson : Webster, I have said, is no 
more. As a human being, mdeed, he is no more. He 
is no more as in years gone by, — no more as in the 
Senate, pleading for the Constitution and the Union ; 
no more as the expounder of the principles of our gov- 
ernment ; no more as the advocate of freedom ; no more 
as a mmister to settle long vexed questions between 
America and other nations ; no more as the man to 
whom we all pointed with an honest pride, when asked, 
who is your great man^ He is no more. He is dead. 
But how little is there of the great and the good which 
can die. To his country he yet lives, and will live for- 
ever ! He lives in all that perpetuates the remembrance 
of men on earth ; in the recorded proofs of his own 
great actions, in the offspring of his intellect, in the 
deep engraved lines of public gratitude, and in the 
respect and homage of mankind. He lives in his ex- 
ample ; and he lives em.phatically, and will live, in the 
influence which his life and efforts, his principles and 
opinions, now exercise, and will continue to exercise, in 
the affaii-s of men, not only in his own country, but 
throughout the civilized world. 

Were I to single out one lesson from all that he 
taught, on which I would lay a special stress, I would 



38 



select his lesson iii regard to the Constitution and the 
Union ; and perhaps I cannot do a better service to his 
memory, or to you, than by repeating that lesson, and 
commending it to your attention. Hear him. " While 
the Union lasts we have high, exciting, gratifying pros- 
pects spread out before us, for us and our children. 
Beyond that I seek not to penetrate the veil. God 
grant that in my day, at least, that curtain may not 
rise ! God grant that on my vision may never be opened 
what lies behind ! When my eyes shall be turned to 
behold for the last time the sun in heaven, may I not 
see him shining on the broken and dishonored frag- 
ments of a once glorious Union; on States dissevered, 
discordant, and belligerent ; on a land rent with civil 
feuds, or drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood ! Let 
their last feeble and lingering glance rather behold the 
gorgeous ensign of the Republic, now known and hon- 
ored throughout the earth, still full high advanced, its 
arms and trophies streaming m their original lustre, not 
a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star obscured, 
bearing for its motto no such miserable mterrogatory, 
as. What is all this worth ? Nor those other Avords of 
delusion and folly, Liberty first, and LTnion afterwards ; 
but every where spread all over in characters of living 
light, blazing on all its ample folds, as they float over 
the sea and over the land, and in every wind under the 
whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every 
American heart. Liberty and Union, now and forever, 
one and inseparable.^' 



89 



Such were the sentiments of Mr. Webster long years 
ago. His late efforts in behalf of the Union, sprung 
from no new thought relative to its worth. During the 
whole of his public career, he kept steadily in view the 
prosperity and the honor of the whole country, and the 
preservation of our Federal Union. In the speech from 
which I have just quoted, he said, " I have not allowed 
myself to look beyond the Union, to see what might lie 
hidden in the dark recess behind. I have not coolly 
weighed the chances of preserving liberty, when the 
bonds that unite us together shall be broken asunder. 
I have not accustomed myself to hang over the preci- 
pice of disunion, to see whether with my short sight, I 
can fathom the depths of the abyss below; nor could I 
regard him as a safe counsellor, whose thoughts should 
be mamly bent on considering, not how the Union shall 
be preserved, but how tolerable might be the condition 
of the people when it shall be broken up and de- 
stroyed." He held the Constitution to be the most 
sncred of all human instruments ; and he believed that 
the perpetuity of freedom depended upon a faithful 
adherence to it. Wherever he was called to speak and 
act, he spoke and acted for the Union ; and no man 
has done so much to make us appreciate its worth, or 
render it secure. It was in consequence of his exertions, 
that New Hampshire had no delegates in the Hartford 
Convention. He, too, more than any other man, has 
incorporated mto our literature the doctrines, and 
principles, and maxims of freedom. In this one re- 



40 



spect, he has rendered a service which would give him 
imperishable renown. Open to any one of his speeches, 
and the first idea you meet is m relation to the bless- 
ings of freedom, and the means of its preservation. 

But I must close. I have not claimed for Mr. 
Webster unerring judgment, and I will only claim that 
in moral character he stood Avith the men with whom 
he mingled. They were our most honored citizens, 
and they say, that he was a good man. But it was 
not of him as a private citizen that I intended to 
speak, but chiefly as a statesman. As such, you have 
my idea of the man. There he stands, great m talents, 
and great in the service of his whole country. He has 
linked his name with Washington, and Adams, and 
Jefferson, by proving himself equal to the Avork of 
unfolding their greatness, and by defending their mem- 
ory and upholdmg their prmciples. He, too, has 
linked his name with the Pilgrims, and with the 
Constitution, and with the Union, and with the battles 
of freedom, in such a proud manner, that he seems 
like a corner-stone in our temple of liberty, — like one 
of its most massive pillars, and to be the great spirit 
which rendered it hallowed and radiant. Truly, then, 
may we say, God has taken away a stay and a 
staff, — a mighty man, the ancient and the honor- 
able, the prudent, the counsellor, and the eloquent 
orator. 



"""^'r^^ CONGRESS 

UBBABYOFOON 




